Method of making motion pictures



1,616,237 Feb. 1,1927. JLFI smz 1 METHOD OF MAKING MOTION PICTURES Filed May 25. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I, 9 Feb. 1,1921 E SE": 616 23:

METHOD OF MAKING MOTION PICTURES Filed May 25. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 don/v F-SE/Tzv Feb. 1 1927. J. F sElTz METHOD OF MAKING uonou PICTURES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1922 Feb. 1 1927. J. F. SEITZ mmnon OF MAKING MOTION rzcrunsg 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 25, 1922 ch 1927 J. F. SEITZ METHOD or mmeuowron rmrumas' Filed llay 25. 1922 5 sheats sheet 5 Patente cllfet. 1, W27.

UNlTED STAT,

JOHN F. SEITZ, OF HOLLYWOOD, GALI'EOHN'L:..

METHOD OF MAKI NG- MOTION PICTU WE$ Application filed May 25, 1922. Serial No. 563,629.

It is an object of the presentinvention to provide at novel, practicable and effective method whereby backgrounds and also fore- V gounds of well known, or-other scenes, can "mcor ratedin a motion picture produc- ,tionwi out reproductions, in full size, of the original subject or object, and without presence thereof. For instance, it may be desirable in producing' a motion picture film to include in Is the field in the scene objects'like the Washington Arch in New York, or some picturesque and celebrated institution, or a view of an old castle, or of an elegant mansion. Again, it may be desirable to'include ina picture film ima es of very elaborate interior views not possib e to set up in replica or sub- 'stit'ution, exec t at very great expense which would be pro ibitive in the production of thedesired picture film. Likewise, many attractive natural landscapes can be ut' ized in the reduction of a picture, but the trans'. portation of apparatus and com an from place to place to obtain the d views would be-not only impractical but also pro- :0 hibitdbythe cost.

Therefore, with the broad object in view of providing for the reduction of motion picture films having or scenes any of the above enumerated ob'ects, fields and landscapes, I have devise a novel, simple and efiective method for producing motion picture films including the desired object or objects in the field without makin directmotion negatives of the original 0 jects themselves.

Further, an object is to provide for the takin -of a motion picture of any desired field including the image of a given object,

and to provide for the action of players in .camera arranged in definite relation with such manner and manoeuvers as may be desired according to the picture to be produced.

To that end,'my invention generically consists of obtaining a picture, of any size, of the original object, and preferably aphotographic picture to preserve all of the true details, and then mounting1 this icture, or copy 'as it may be calle in t e field of the lens of a motion picture camera and takinga' negativeinthe camera from the said copy. Fromthis it will be seen theta arranged behind the picture and vember 22, 1926,

\ camera showing the lamp plate arranged in the film negative, of motion picture size, is producied from the picture of the desired origma v The claims in the present application are limited to the method of making a motion picture in which a photographic picture of a scene is made on a desired scale, a part thereof cut away and a set is constructed to simulate sufiicient of the cut away part of the picture on a desired scale, which setis an animated act in front of the set is photographed by means of a camera which is p aced in such focus to the picture that the set and act and picture when photogra hed simu-' lates an action in front of the or ary scene with/the actors appearing in proper proportion' to such scene. The particular method of making a mat disclosed in the present application is claimed in my divisional c0n-, tinuation ap lication for a method of making mats an apparatus therefor filed -No-.

Serial Number 1419,9238.- The recess will be more fully and completely described in; the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is aperspective of a motion picture camera set to take a motion picture size negativeof a primary picture or copy. Fig. 2 is a view of he film negative pro-I duced from the first copy. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the first negative arranged in the usual auxiliary aperture plate of a motion picture camera.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a lamp house and lamp. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of a house and the as definitely positioned auxiliary camera and'positioned 4 with respect to one of the lenses and ready for the production of an image. Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the sociated and respect to a frame and showing the production of an image b projection from the camera and also i ustrating the ste of brush developing the image on the eveloping paper, all 'ina dark room.

Fig. is an end view looking through the frame andftoward the projecting camera.-

zation' of an enlargement in combination with the motion picture camera'and show- Fig; 8 is a perspective showing the utilii ing a set and action that. the negative taken by the motion picture camera will illustrate a complete scene including a picture of an original object forming an essential element in the field.

Fig. 9 is a view of a section of the negative produced by the step illustrated in Fig. 8. I

Fig. 10 is a view of a section of a positive produced from the negative of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a view showing a step in the photographing of a scene in which the en largement has a built-on feature to secure a consistent shadow.

In attemptingto ofier motion picture productions, it has been proposed to make hand produced so-called scenes as of exteriors all arranged so of buildings and structures, and also hand produced scenes of interiors have been'made. A ain, replicas of scenes have been made. T e first practice is unsatisfactory because of the imperfections of a reproduction, and the second practice is unsatisfactory because of the incident cost in making a replica. Principally, however, the disadvantages are that the true and perfect details of any given scene are conspicuousl absent.

y my invention, al of the details of any scene desired are retained with a hi h degree of perfection and faithfulness, and this perfectness of reproduction I accomplish as will now be described.

Of any desired scene, either interior or exterior, I obtain a first-class photographic ieture, which, for the present purposes, may

e referred to as the copy shown as 2 in Fig. 1, and which is here represented as an entrance gate or castle. This copy 2 is arranged to be photographed as by a motion picture camera C. It is immaterial as to the size of the copy 2 of the given subject, since it is obvious that the focusing of the motion picture camera will be determined according to the size of the copy. The camera, therefore, produces a negative such as is shown at N. in Fig. 2. As many of the negatives N, as may be practical, may be produced by running a suitable length of film through the camera. The successive film sections, obviously, will be duplicate since the subject or copy 2 is inanimate.

This photographic negative N is then introduced into an auxiliary aperture plate P, Fig. 3, and this is introduced into the same motion picture camera C by which the negativeN was made of the copy 2. lVithin the camera there is also arranged in definite relation with'the aperture plate- P, a lamp house or bulb v p The camera C, dismounted from its tripod or other support utilized in the step shown in 1, is then applied in a solid or firm positionto a rigid support shown as comprising, for example, a girder structure of H having a suitable lamp-i iron beams B, Fig. 6, and at a suitable distance from the camera G there is fixed to the beam B a large or suitably proportioned frame F disposed vertically and transversely on the beam and being adapted to receive a sheet of photographic paper of suitable characteristics, onto which may be cast an image from the motion picture camera C from the negative N. This image is reduced in a darkened space, as in a ark room D, and While so produced, a fixed picture or positive 0 is made of the image as by brush developing it as by the application of a suitable developer with a brush 3. Since it may be desirable to apply the enlarged picture 0 of the object back on the frame F after its removal, suitable registering means are provided and these may consist of a'desirable number of suitably arranged registering pins 4 provided on the frame.

The fixed picture ,0 of the object is a sharp and faithful enlargement of the co y 2 which has been produced photographicaily from the true original of and in any given scene. The dark room structure, if portable or knock down, ma be removed leaving the beam, the camera 6 and the frame F all in the same relative fixed position as obtained when the enlargement or picture 0 was produced, or the paraphernalia, including the beam and its attached frame F and camera 0, can be removed without relative change of its elements to any givenlocation.

The next step in the method is to cut away the lower, or other suitable portion of the picture 0, as will be determined according to the scene and subject. For instance, if the original of the copy 2 and indirectly of the enlargement 0 be the view of a ship at sea, or of a fortress, or of some other marine scene, then, if it is desired to reproduce a picture of the original object, the enlargement 0 may be fixedly-mounted or otherwise over the body of water so that the natural wave action or current of the water can be utilized in making a motion picture scene.

For the present purpose, the scene includes, as a part, a. view of a castle or city wall gate and when a scene is to be made including an animated action to be viewed as through-the gate opening G, Fig. 8 the enlargement 0 will have that portion of the sheet registering with the gate cut away, as clearly indicate-din Fig. 8, so that a background or field may be viewed 'through the opening of the gate G.

To further carry out the illusion of action,-in which human beings may take'a part and be made to appear as moving between the inside of the wall W and the field beyond in the opening, the picture 0 is further cut away according to the part affected by the animated scene. Since the enlargement will be placed within eight or ten feet of the motion picture camera 0, it is obvious that it would be impossible to have human characters act in a location between the camera and the enlargement 0. Therefore,

- in order to preserve the true proportions as between the characters and the details existing in the wall' W, the animated part of the scene must occur at such a distance beyond the-set up enlargement O as will bring the animated objects down into a proper proportion with respect to the scene in which they form acomponent part associated with the wall and gate in the present case.

To that end, in the background beyond the enlargei'nent 0 there is properly aligned, in the present case, a set panel b finished to be a replica in all details of a portion of the wall \V and which replica is thecopy of a portion of the wall which is cut away as along the line W of the enlargement O.

' The set S is proportioned and deslgned so that when erected at a predetermined distance behind the frame F carrying the enlargement O, the camera will produce an image in which the set S combines so perfectly with the gate and wall W as to appear as an integral part of the wall. If the set S bepositioned far enough away, actors may then get into action in front of and in a vertical plane in which the setstands and the action the camera as though a the wall W shown in the enlargement O, and a part of the action may be made to appear as though far beyond or near the will be reproduced in it occurs in front of gate G.

While the action is occurring, the motion picture camera 0 negative diagrammatic lly illustrated at N is produced.

From the above it will be seen that this I method it is possible to make motion'p 1cdistinct shadows,

tures including scenes comprising exterior and interior views frequently not accessible to motion picture producers, and moreover which, if accessible, would be only at such expense, and also inconvenience, if not as to make it substantially tion.

' Since the enlargement of the picture taken directly from the original object may show it is desirable to provide means for'the rectification of the shadows or principal shadows so as to rende the same building out portions of is operated and apicture' properly proportioned replicas, as for in stance the balcony 13 shown in Fig. 11 which is built out in front of the enlargement so that the balcony will be consistent in its details with the size and with the characteristics of the original. Then when light, artificial or natural, is cast upon the set-up, the shadows of the projecting portion or portions on the front of the enlargement will be consistent with the shadows cast by the objects in the background and associated with "the enlargement. By this step and apparatus it will be seen-that a faithful reproduction in the minute details can be carried out;

Various modifications and chan beresorted to within the spirit 0 vention as claimed.

What is claimed is: t

1. The method of making motion pictures es may the in which consists in' utilizing aphotographic picture of any size and making a photographic enlargement of thesaid picture, and said enlargement so as to produce proper shadow effects in consonance with shadows of other objects in the combined scene to be finally photographed.

2. The step in the method of making a .motion picture which consists in making a photographic picture of a given scene on a desired scale, cutting away part of the picture, constructing a set to simulate sufficient of the cut-away part of the picture on a desired scale, arranging the set behind the picture, producing an animated act in front of the set and behind the cut-away picture, and placing a camera in such focusto the picture, set and-act that a photograph taken thereby simulates an action in front of the original scene, the actors appearing in proper proportion to such scene.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN F. SEITZ. 

